Incarnational Shower



All of us have those household jobs that we avoid. Taking out the trash, dishes, laundry. Mine is cleaning the shower and bathtub. If I was proactive, I would scrub it weekly, keeping the grime at bay like the marauding Germanic hordes of yesteryear.

When I was a teen, one of my household chores was taking out the trash. I would delay and then the pile would grow and grow beyond the confines of the brown paper grocery bags. So, I would have to reach down and try and grab the edges of the bag through the trash.  Avoidance just made the problem worse and worse. Then, sometimes the bag would break. Say what you will about plastics. It has made taking out the trash a tidier affair.

Reminds me of a documentary I saw on PBS one time about a man that lived in the Alaska Wilderness who lived almost entirely off the land, sparse tools, and his wits. He had one exception: A plastic tarp for his cabin for waterproofing. The thing that make the plastic so bad as a disposable is it permanence. That is why recycling just makes good sense.  

The problem that I was having with the shower was trying to get the surfaces sufficiently wet so that the Comet could scrub off the grime. Since the Comet has a bleaching Chlorine agent, I would strip down my shorts, start the shower up, and then scrub like hell--and get sweaty and miserable. The other week it struck me that if wanted to really strip off the grime in the shower/tub, I should first strip naked. Then, take a shower and let the water bounce off my body, spreading the H2O around in a 360 degree fashion. After a couple of minutes of doing that, then I brought out the Comet and the scrub brush. Since I was naked, I didn't worry about getting the Comet on me. I just washed it off like I would soap.  Worked like a charm. Plus, it left me squeaky clean!

When Jesus spoke of the origin of evil, he said it was the heart of humanity. Our behavior could not be cleansed from the outside in. Jesus came into our humanity in every way except sin. And, He cleansed us like an incarnational shower of grace. From the inside out.      

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